About 6 million people break their bones each year, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. But after fracturing his arm, one industrial design graduate used a 3-D printer to produce n exoskeletal brace. The result is an innovative concept for fixing broken bones that, if nothing else, has presented an interesting case for rethinking the plaster cast.

Victoria University graduate Jake Evill created the brace prototype with a homemade 3-D printer and nylon plastic.

In an interview with Wired magazine, Evill said the inspiration for his Cortex design came from the trabecular, a structure that forms the inner tissue of a bone.

This is disruptive because it cuts into the AMA monpoly on expensive plaster. Go to the pharmacy, put your ACE-sleeved arm into the scanner, and come back in an hour to get your thin shell two part cast.

and the rapid-protype material will probably have issues with water, uv-radiation (sunlight) ...

over a two-month period ...

All true, Patton@Bastogne, and there are probably additional problems, but that's the nature of bright new ideas: they take awhile to develop. I'm sure the weight savings aloneonce the numerous and various bugs have been worked outwould more than justify the expense and bother.

Save us from the supposedly smart MBAs. This is one of the most ridiculous pairings in the english language. Talk about an oxymoron. And to what purpose other than to show just how ‘smart’ you are. Tell these yahoos who make up this crap to cut it out already

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.